RED | j.jk

chapter eighteen • ❤️

grey tile floors.

the air is cold and thin.

jungkook leads me into the visitation room. there are families and friends gathered at different tables scattered around the room. inmates dressed in orange are in shackles and are being closely monitored. my eyes dart back and forth between happy faces and those who are crying for their loved ones.

i never imagined i would be sitting here at this table, waiting to visit my parents who have been arrested.

i take jungkook's cold hand into mine and squeeze it tightly. he gives me a glance and then returns his gaze back to the floor. he seems uncomfortable. almost as if he wishes he could sink into the depths of the grey tile and become one with it... as if he could vanish and only coexist with me in this moment...

"y/n?" i hear a familiar voice, only this time it isn't warm and bright. i look up to match the voice with my mother. she comes out first, and then father behind her. i want to stand up, to run and give them a big hug. i want to cry on their shoulders and tell them that i miss them and i wish everything was back to the way it was two days ago.

that feeling is soon replaced with resentment when they both sit down in front of me. "why are you here?" dad asks, a frown placed across his dull face. jungkook huffs loudly beside me.

"i came to see you. both of you." i explain.

"where is lisa?" mom questions, examining jungkook and i. i shake my head, "she's fine, the real question is why are you in jail?"

mother looks to dad and then to me, as if she is hiding something. i narrow my attention to dad now, "did something go wrong with the detective from a few days ago?"

silence fills our table while other tables are loud and filled with conversation.

"they don't want to talk. let's just go." jungkook stands up, still latching onto my hand.

"sure, go right ahead and leave. he obviously knows what's best for you." dad snarls at us. i furrow my eyebrows, trying to make sense of the events that have taken place since we moved here.

they just wanted a fresh start... i didn't ever think they were... running from something... maybe someone...

"tell me what's going on." i demand, forcing jungkook to sit back down.

"your father and i can't just tell you, you would hate us, y/n." mom sighs, i could see the sadness flood her face.

"i will tell her." jungkook suggests but it caught me off guard.

"what?" i look at him, my mouth gaping open.

he knows what's going on? obviously, he was trying his hardest to keep me from knowing the truth. as he said, he was trying to protect me... protect me from getting hurt...

"go ahead." dad lays his hands on the table, the shackles clinging the dense metal.

"y/n..." jungkook looks into my eyes. i could see right through him now. i could sense his urge to get up and leave and never come back. but i could also feel his longing to be next to me every second of every minute and every minute of every hour...

"jungkook..." i whisper, waiting patiently for an explanation for all of this.

"it's no coincidence that we know each other..." he says slowly, choosing every word carefully. his eyes examine my every move and expression.

"your parents and i are business partners in a way." jungkook looks to them and then back at me.

business partners? what business could they possibly need from each other? my parents don't even like jungkook.

jungkook could see the confusion across my face, but could also feel the tension growing between the four of us at the table. "your parents are like me. they are..."

vampires.

"no." i say.

they can't be! i've felt their skin, i've felt the warmth, the love! i've felt life in them!

"no!" i say again, standing up.

"honey, we wanted to tell you ourselves-"

"then why didn't you?" i ask, my heart throbbing loudly in my chest.

"just sit down and listen, y/n. there's more." dad says sternly.

i take my seat again and look to jungkook for the answer to all of my questions.

  "they moved here because evidence from your old town pointed towards them in regards to dead bodies that were being found and reported. that's who the detective was that stopped by the house that day. detective young, she is working against your parents. i've known your family for a long time, since before you were ever born, and they've never liked me-"

  now dad cuts in, "we've never liked that the jeon family has powers over all of our kind. it's not fair, which is the main reason we never wanted you hanging around with him."

  i sink into my seat, trying to process this. so my parents are vampires and they've known jungkook this whole time? they've known his whole family and i haven't even met half of them yet? they've kept this big secret from me my whole life?

  out of all the questions i have, i could only ask this one, "so, if you are vampires, how come i am a human?"

  my parents look to each other and i look to them and then at jungkook who only turns his face away from me. there's a tender spot in all of this, isn't there? something that would change my life drastically... my whole world...

  "there's no way that we would've been able to care for a newborn vampire, it just wasn't possible at the time. newborn vampires are difficult and often perish after a few months of existence..." mother explains slowly, tears swelling in her eyes. "we took you from a family that didn't want you, y/n. they put you up for adoption right after you were born."

to be continued...

(unedited)